The Supreme Court has invoked the Victor Hugo bestseller Les Miserables to grant relief to a youth who was sacked from the police force for not declaring his criminal past.
In the novel penned in 1862, the character Jean Valjean is jailed for stealing a loaf of bread for his hungry family and thereafter branded a thief all his life. Rejected and scorned everywhere and denied job opportunities, Jean becomes bitter and vows revenge on society and god. But an unthinkable act of mercy and generosity by a saintly small-town bishop drastically alters his life.
The court called for a similar “modern approach” of mercy to reform a person, “instead of branding him a criminal all his life”.
While applying for the post of a head constable in 1999, Delhi resident Sandeep Kumar concealed the fact that he was once arrested in a criminal case.
Later, after selection, in 2001, however, he mentioned in his self-attestation disclosure that he and members of his family were arrested for beating up a tenant in 1998.
The home ministry took serious note of this misconduct and ordered his removal. The central administrative tribunal upheld the government decision but the Delhi high court overturned the then police commissioner’s order removing Sandeep from the rolls.
In yet another thought-provoking judgment, a Supreme Court bench of justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra not only upheld the high court decision but also gave an altogether new dimension to the law regarding leniency.
When Sandeep had an altercation with his tenant, he must have been aged about 20 years. “At that young age people often commit indiscretions, and such indiscretions can often been condoned,” the court said, adding, “Condone minor indiscretions made by young people, rather than brand them criminals for the rest of their lives. After all, youth will be youth. They are not expected to behave in as mature a manner as older people.”
Sandeep’s offence, the judges said, was not “a serious offence such as murder, dacoity or rape”.
